1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and system for corroborating a document within a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method for automated electronic corroboration of an electronic document within a data processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The modern electronic office is rapidly supplanting and replacing many aspects of the traditional paper office. Modern office systems utilize electronic mail, voice mail, centralized databases and other forms of electronic communication to decrease the amount of so-called "float" encountered in a traditional paper society. By utilizing electronic mail it is possible for a document to be simultaneously transmitted to multiple recipients at various points around the world. Despite the advent of widespread electronic communication, selected activities within the traditional paper office have been difficult to implement in an electronic society.
For example, the signature of an individual, long recognized as the best evidence of the originality of a document, or the fact that the individual in question has indeed reviewed a document, is difficult to implement in an electronic office system. While it is true that a hard copy of a document may be created, signed, and subsequently scanned into electronic memory, such procedures are awkward, time consuming and expensive.
While for the most part electronic documents have been widely accepted as the equivalent of their paper counterparts, certain documents which are commonly utilized in the modern office still require some form of corroboration that the document does exist, or did exist as of a selected date. For example, invention disclosure forms utilized to document the conception of an invention are commonly submitted in hard copy form throughout large corporations and almost always include a portion of that document which is intended to be dated and signed by a witness, as evidence of corroboration of the existence of that document. Such corroboration is utilized in case the need ever arises to prove a date of conception of the invention. The processing of an invention disclosure document or other similar document in an electronic office has rendered the corroboration of that document difficult to obtain without creating a hard copy of such a document and filing signed copies.
It should therefore be apparent that a need exists for a method and system whereby electronic documents stored within a data processing system may be readily and efficiently corroborated as a normal course of activity with regard to the processing of such documents. The maintenance of an electronic corroboration of such a document as a normal and ordinary business record should be sufficient to overcome any objection to the electronic nature of the corroboration.